There's Lionel Messi, and then there's the rest. The weekend's football in Europe seemed to suggest so, although one must put this helpful caveat: Juventus gave Cristiano Ronaldo the weekend off.

Here are the best numbers from the weekend:

33

Lionel Messi scored his 33rd La Liga hat-trick in the course of Barcelona's 4-1 win away to Real Betis, also his 45th hat-trick for Barcelona across all competitions. He also has six hat-tricks for the Argentina national team, taking his overall tally in competitive...

March 17 (Reuters) - Valencia missed a huge opportunity in their bid for a top-four finish in La Liga as they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Getafe on Sunday to stay six points adrift of the Madrid side in the hunt for the final Champions League spot.

Valencia had the better chances and their Portuguese winger Goncalo Guedes had an effort ruled out early in the second half following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review for offside against Kevin Gameiro.

Steve Nicol breaks down Manchester United's first Premier League loss under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal.

Craig Burley and Alejandro Moreno were in full agreement that Raheem Sterling's first goal against Watford should never have been allowed to stand.

Steve Nicol examines what is behind Mohamed Salah's recent struggles and what he and Jurgen Klopp can do to sort the issues out.

Despite another routine win for Barcelona in La Liga, questions remain over Philippe Coutinho who underwhelmed again for the Spanish giants.

Luuk De Jong scored his 21st league goal of the season as PSV Eindhoven remain in control of top spot in the Dutch Eredivisie.

While Liverpool kept pace with Manchester City, Arsenal beat Manchester United to keep the top four race alive. In La Liga, Barcelona continued their dominance, while Kareem Benzema helped Real Madrid get back to winning ways after their humiliating Champions League defeat. Elsewhere, Juventus remained unbeaten in the league, while Bayern Munich scored six against Wolfsburg to leapfrog Dortmund to the top of the Bundesliga. Here are the best numbers from the weekend's action.

March 10 (Reuters) - Valencia claimed a fourth straight win in all competitions to reignite their hopes of finishing in the Liga top four by winning 3-2 at Girona with a late goal from teenager Ferran Torres after having a man sent off on Sunday.

Forward Ferran, 19, latched on to a through ball and rounded goalkeeper Bono to score in the 90th minute and give Valencia the lead for the third time in a thrilling game at Montilivi.

It was a weekend of derbies and fierce cross-country rivalries. The North-London derby was feisty, controversial and ended 1-1, the Merseyside one was tamer and ended 0-0, while the Rome edition saw Lazio absolutely smash Roma 3-0. Across in Spain, the Clasico saw Barcelona run out 1-0 winners at Real Madrid, while in a brilliantly-manic edition of the great Italian north-south rivalry, Juventus clung onto a 2-1 win at Napoli.